Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday (July 20) that it still had “no information to provide” on the absence of foreign minister Qin Gang. The foreign minister’s last recorded public appearance has been more than three weeks ago.
Previously, the foreign ministry announced that Qin would not be attending the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting from July 11-12 in Jakarta. The ministry said that the absence was due to health reasons. It said later on Wednesday (July 19) that Wang Yi – Qin’s predecessor – will also represent China at BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on July 24-25.
The foreign ministry has since rebuffed questions from journalists at daily briefings and has declined to offer any further information on the foreign minister’s absence. It has also left out the exchanges including the initial health comments from official transcript.
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Qin’s last public engagement was with Russian, Sri Lankan and Vietnamese officials on June 25. The meeting took place in Beijing. Qin Gang’s absence has fuelled intense speculation. China is notoriously opaque about the private lives of its leaders.
Qin Gang (57) is considered a rising star in Chinese politics. He was a former aide to President Xi Jinping. Qin was appointed foreign minister in December after serving less than two years as ambassador to the United States.
He has played prominent role as a foreign minister in steering rocky US-China ties. He met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he visited Beijing in June. This was Bliken’s first visit to China in five years.
The speculation over his absence
The sudden absence of Qin Gang has deepened suspicion among diplomats and China observers world over. In focus is China’s secretive decision-making at a time the country is seeking to ree-ngage with the world after years of self-imposed Covid-isolation.
“Qin’s disappearance does cast much uncertainty and confusion over the consistency, stability and credibility of Beijing’s decision-making,” said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington. Yun Sun was quoted by Reuters.
“If a vice-national level leader can just disappear without much of an explanation, people find it difficult to trust and count on any Chinese leader or official and their positions.”
A prolonged absence will “confuse other countries seeking to build channels of communication with China”, said Wen-Ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University also quoted by Reuters.
“Predictability and transparency are essential to regularizing dialogues and to trust-building, both of which are key ingredients to sustained cooperation.”
Qin Gang’s absence is already causing diplomatic snags. Britain reportedly, is not able to fix a date for its foreign minister to visit China
Uncertainty also persists over EU top diplomat Josep Borrell’s visit to China.
(With inputs from agencies)
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